Season by Season
1999 to 2000

Lakers Shaq-le NBA

Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson and Shaquille O'Neal made for a title triumverate that led the Lakers in running rampant over the rest of the league. (Robert C. Mora/NBAE Photos)

He was completely healthy for the first time since the 1994-95 season, having
put a series of thumb, knee and abdominal injuries behind him. His new
coach, Phil Jackson, brought the renowned triangle offense to Los Angeles
and made O'Neal the focal point. Jackson, a six-time champion in Chicago,
also emphasized the value of defense and conditioning.

With all this in his favor, Shaq set out to make the NBA his league.
He succeeded.

"He's the most dominating player in our league," Pacers coach
Larry Bird said after O'Neal and the Lakers clinched the championship
with a 116-111 victory over Indiana in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

"He's powerful, strong, able to get the ball in the hole,"
Bird said. "He's improved immensely, starting to make shots further
from the basket. He's just so dominating that they have an opportunity
here to do something great for a number of years."

It's worth noting that Bird said "they have an opportunity,"
meaning that the Lakers aren't a one-man show. All-Star guard Kobe Bryant
made great strides in his fourth season, posting career-highs in scoring
(22.5 ppg), rebounds (6.3 rpg), assists (4.9 apg), steals (1.61 spg)
and shooting percentage (.468). He also earned a spot on the All-Defensive
First Team.

Bryant proved himself as a clutch player, evident in his game-winning
jumper with 2.6 seconds left in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals
against Phoenix. Then there was Game 4 of the NBA Finals, when he scored
eight of his 28 points in overtime, including a game-winning reverse
tip.

"He's developed his legendary status at the age of 21," teammate
Rick Fox said after the 120-118 victory.

But O'Neal was the force nobody wanted to reckon with. He led the
league in scoring (29.7 ppg) and field goal percentage (.574). He
was second in rebounds (13.6 rpg), third in blocks (3.03 bpg) and
fourth in minutes (40 mpg). On March 6, his 28th birthday, Shaq celebrated
with 61 points against the Clippers. He also led the Lakers on winning
streaks of 19, 16 and 11 games.

He shared All-Star MVP honors with Tim Duncan and was a runaway choice
for Finals MVP. Shaq nearly became the first unanimous MVP of the
regular season, receiving 120 of a possible 121 first-place votes.

He stepped up his performance in the playoffs, averaging 30.7 points
and 15.4 rebounds. But his numbers were most gaudy in the Finals,
where he averaged 38.0 points and 16.7 rebounds and shot .611 from
the field.

In the Lakers locker room after Game 6 of the Finals, O'Neal summed
up his season. "Now that we got one (title)," he said, "we
just have to work on two, three, four, five. It's everything I thought
it would be."

Other notes from the season:

After losing in the Eastern Conference Finals four times in the previous
six seasons, the Pacers broke through and reached the NBA Finals. One
big reason was Jalen Rose, who edged Reggie Miller for the team's scoring
lead (18.2 ppg to 18.1) and was named the NBA's Most Improved Player.

Charles Barkley's 16-year career came to an end. The future Hall
of Famer announced in October that he would retire when the season
ended - which, for Barkley, appeared to be when he ruptured the quadriceps
tendon in his left knee during a Dec. 8 game in Philadelphia. But
the Rockets forward returned to play six minutes and score two points
in Houston's season finale.

The NBA family lost three key members with the deaths of Wilt Chamberlain,
Bobby Phills and Malik Sealy. Chamberlain, the Hall of Fame center,
died on Oct. 12, 1999, at age 63. Phills, a swingman for the Charlotte
Hornets, died in a Jan. 12 auto accident. Sealy, a Minnesota Timberwolves
guard, died in a May 20 car accident.

Michael Jordan returned to the NBA on Jan. 19 as the President of
Basketball Operations for the Washington Wizards. "I look forward
to the challenge," Jordan said. "I'm going to have my imprints
and footprints all over this organization."

All-Star Saturday belonged to Toronto Raptors swingman Vince Carter,
who clinched the NBA.com Slam Dunk on a jam in which he took a bounce
pass from teammate Tracy McGrady, went through the legs and rocked
the rim with a one-handed jam.

All was quiet on the Feb. 24 trading deadline, with Atlanta and Orlando
making a minor deal. One week earlier, however, Chicago's Toni Kukoc
went to Philadelphia and Larry Hughes made his way to Golden State
in a three-way deal.

San Antonio Spurs forward Sean Elliott, who had received a kidney
transplant eight months earlier, returned to the court March 14 against
the Atlanta Hawks. He went on to play for the rest of the regular
season and the playoffs.

Kevin Johnson came out of retirement after Phoenix point guard Jason
Kidd broke his ankle March 22. Johnson played six regular season games
and nine playoff games, and returned to retirement after the Lakers
eliminated the Suns in the Western Conference Semifinals.